Jack and Rose set out to find and save Fabrizio
by susan cousineau
Summary: This is another take on what happened the fateful night of April 15 1912.
1. Chapter 1

Rose had made up her mind that life with Cal was now out of the question. He had fired his weapon at both her and Jack. Any man who would even consider trying to shoot her was not husband material. She had said good-bye to her mother. She had watched her mother leave in the lifeboat and had decided right there and then that she no longer belonged in her mother's world.

Jack could not believe that he had fallen in love so quickly. He had only known Rose for a few days. She came from a different world and at one time he had thought that her type of woman was untouchable. But, Rose had taught him that no matter where you come from and no matter how much money and education you have, you are still human. He loved her with all his heart.

As Jack looked around for a way to get his love out of the terrible danger that she was now in he gave her a hug. She was a brave woman and smart. No matter what he said she would not leave his side. She had saved his life by cutting the handcuffs that had held his arms around the piping in that awful room. She had come back and walked through waist deep water to save his life.

But, for now he was wondering about his friend Fabrizio. When Jack had gone to Italy in the beginning of 1910 he had met Fabrizio. Fabrizio was a fun loving guy who had been the youngest of fourteen children. His parents made a living working in the vast wine community They had not had a lot of money and Fabrizio had worked since he was twelve to help support the family.

Jack and Fabrizio had become the best of friends right away. Jack had worked along Fabrizio in the docks. They had made their money loading the ships as they left the vast port . It was there that the two friends had made the decision to travel around the world. Fabrizio's parents had not been pleased with their son's decision, but he had been seventeen and they did not want to stop him from living his own life.

In the meantime Fabrizio was down in the third class trying to find a way of escape himself. As he looked for a way of escape desperately Fabrizio thought about his parents and wished to see them again. He could not write to his mother or father because neither one of them read or wrote. He didn't know how to write either. He had sent one letter that Jack had written for him. He knew that the church priest would read the letter to his parents. But, they didn't know that he was on board the Titanic and they would possibly never know. If he didn't find a way to get off the ship and reach safety he was going to die this night.

Fabrizio had been walking the corridors over and over, just to be stopped by someone every time he tried to go up to the higher decks. There were no lifeboats down here in steerage, and the locked gates were a guarantee that he would drown if he didn't find a way out.

It was on one of Fabrizio's many searches that he ran into Tommy his friend who he had met on the ship a few days before. Tommy, like Fabrizio was not a man known to panic, but he too knew how desperate things were getting. The ship was now leaning to the side as well as towards the front. They had no idea how much longer the ship was going to stay afloat.

The confusion was downright scary. There were so many languages being spoken and all of the directions were written in English. Most of the people in the third class couldn't read anyways. There were a few porters trying their best to help everyone, but for the most part they were on their own.

The two men decided that it was a good idea to go and get their jackets. It was going to be very cold out on the water and they needed to protect themselves. As they made their way to their rooms they found that the water was now over their knees and the rooms that they once had were no longer reachable. Still Tommy had grabbed a life jacket, but Fabrizio had not.

The halls were crowded with families and all of their belongings. Most of the people didn't understand that they couldn't take their belongings onto the lifeboats. They had no way of knowing that there weren't enough lifeboats. But Fabrizio and Tommy knw of the lack of lifeboats. Jack had been told by Rose that there were only enough lifeboats for half the people on the ship.

As the two friends looked around they could see that there was no doubt that the first class was going to be given a seat in the lifeboats, man or woman, first even if it meant that a child in third class would drown. As the two men walked down the corridor they ran into the young girl LInda. She was the young blonde girl that Fabrizio had been dancing with the night that Rose had come down and joined the festivities.

Linda was a pretty young girl and she looked very worried. She did not cry, but when Fabrizio took her hand and told her to follow him she went willingly. As the three friends headed towards another entrance to the upper levels, they ran into Rose and Jack. Fabrizio and Jack embraced as they met once again.

It was there at the gate that they tried in vain to talk the man at the other side to open the gates. But it was to no avail. With Jack's hot temper and the fear of drowning Jack and Tommy and Fabrizio picked up a bench and broke down the gate. As they forced their way into the upper hallway the man tried to stop them once again. Tommy punched him in the jaw and they ran up the steps.

But getting up the stairs to the first class was still a journey. Each of the hallways were now dimly lit and for the most part empty. There were no signs telling people where to go and the tilt of the ship was now immense. As the five friends made their way up to the boat deck, they were met once more by Cal. Cal sneered and attempted to shoot Jack once again. But this time the gun misfired and Jack was able to wrestle it away from him.

Rose looked around quickly looking for Spicer Lovejoy. Wherever Cal was Lovejoy was sure to be near. But to her surprise, she didn't see him. Jack took her hand and the large group followed them up to the upper deck. They could hear Cal yelling that he was going to get them as they hurried up on deck.

As the people entered the upper deck what they saw was pure chaos. People were now running up and down and everywhere trying to find a way off the ship. Most of the lifeboats had left or were nearly full. Jack turned to his friend Fabrizio and said "Go over on the other side and see if there are any lifeboats there. With that Tommy Fabrizio and Linda headed to the other side of the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

Panic was starting to set in. It was terrible and cold people were running everywhere . The three friends looked around anxiously looking for some kind of boat for them and their friends. But the officers were now arguing and the last boat was filling. up fast.

Fabrizio and Tommy insisted that Linda get into the lifeboat. She knew that she might never see the two young men standing on the deck. As she was getting into the boat she looked up. There right in front of her and many other women one of the men tried to get into the boat forcefully. It was then that the officer shot his gun into the air.

Now, there was a real panic. There were guns to stop anyone from getting on the lifeboat and she worried that Fabrizio and Tommy were doomed to trying to stay alive in the cold frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It was then that Tommy got shoved and he fell towards the officer. Linda could plainly see that Tommy was not trying to force his way onto the boat, but in the confusion the officer shot and killed him.

Linda couldn't stop the tears as she watched Fabrizio stand over his friend who had died for nothing. She watched in horror as the officer then took the gun to his head and shot himself. The officer went over the edge of the ship and fell into the river. All of the people on the lifeboat witnessed the horror and were either just staring or crying.

As the lifeboat filled with more people Linda watched in horror as Fabrizio took the blood soaked life vest off of his dead friend. She could see that her friend was crying. As the ship once more listed hard the lifeboat lurched forward. It was all that Linda and the other passengers could do to keep their seats. The men who were lowering the lifeboat were now facing their own fates, They both knew that the ship was going to sink and it was going to sink fast.

The ship was groaning and making all kinds of noise. The electricity was flickering and all of the lifeboats were gone. There is no word in the English language to describe the sounds of fifteen hundred people screaming. The noise was deafening, people were jumping into the water and some man was trying to put two deck chairs together, hoping that they would float.

As Linda and the other passengers in the small lifeboat they looked over the water. The lifeboats appeared to be just half full. 'Why would they have done that?' she thought. All the people on the ship with no place to go and the lifeboats were barely half filled.

Fabrizio was now looking for his two friends trying to find out where they were. But the mass of people was enormous. People were running around with no place to go. He saw a young girl crying for her mother hiding behind one of the doors. He watched in wonder as that terrible man Cal picked the child up and talked his way into a lifeboat. "I have a child. Please I am all she has." With that he had been allowed onto the lifeboat.

By this time the water was almost level with the lifeboat now. The ship was leaning so bad it was as though you were walking up a mountain when you headed towards the bow of the ship. The crowd, the shouts, it was a terrible scene.

As Fabrizio went to where the grand staircase the water was now almost to the top of the stairway. Fabrizio was never so scared in his life. But, he needed to get to the outside of the ship. But as he made his way across the room there was another explosion and moan and without warning the water filled the room to the top. It was a miracle that Fabrizio managed to get out of there alive.

As Fabrizio made his way up on deck finally he could hear the screams of all the drowning people who had been by the grand staircase with him. he wished that he could do something to help them, but there was nothing that he could do. As he was attempting to climb the now very steep deck, there was another explosion. Without warning Fabrizio found himself in the water swimming away from the sinking ship.

Jack and Rose were now at the bow of the ship and knew that the ship was going to sink in a matter of minutes. The ship lurched and then seemed to level off for a second. Then it began to sink this time for sure. Jack held Rose's hand tightly but the force of the ship separated them. As Jack was in the water desperately looking for Rose he found a door. He knew that on that door Rose and him could be out of the water. The water would still be very cold and there was a good chance that they both wouldn't survive, but he had to take the chance.

As Jack finally found Rose he called to her "Swim Rose." Rose did swim and they got to the door. There Jack found himself unable to get on the door himself without tipping over. he saw that Rose was safe and stayed in the water without a life jacket.

But the cold was terrible and Jack knew that he was not going to survive. Rose was singing to herself trying to keep warm, when Jack saw his friend Fabrizio. His friend had been hurt and was barely conscious. Jack grabbed his friend and found the lawn chairs floating by. With all of the strength that he had Jack managed to get his friend onto the chairs and mostly out of the water. He swam over to Rose and attempted to tell her what he had done. But, he had no voice left and no strength to even touch his love. Within minutes the life was out of Jack.

Fabrizio saw that his friend wasn't moving anymore and attempted to get Rose's attention. But, he couldn't see very well and he had a dreadful headache. He heard the lifeboat return and watched in horror as Rose discovered Jack had died. He tried in vain to call out for help, and couldn't believe that Rose had the strength to get back into the water and blow the whistle. As the boat picked up Rose there was a tear in Fabrizio's eye. Somehow he managed a weak call out and the men in the lifeboat heard him.

Rose turned around to see her friend Fabrizio. He had been injured, but he was still alive. They held each other tightly as they stayed in the lifeboat until a rescue boat finally appeared.


End file.
